1. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #53022 by David James on June 29, 2007 at 3:00 am

Hi Spinoza,

Do you think you could say something about your use of the word "knows" in your comment above? I think that was a bit cavelier.

D-J

P.S. Like the name. The writings of (the original) Spinoza were a big factor in my becoming an atheist.

2. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #53020 by David James on June 29, 2007 at 2:54 am

Hi Mr. Empirical,

I just want to be clear (and please forgive me if this is a silly question - I just feel this discussion is a bit wooly):

Are you saying that you wouldn't go so far as to say,

"I believe there is no God"

prefering only,

"I do not have a positive belief that God exists"

or something like that?

3. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #52776 by David James on June 28, 2007 at 4:06 am

Oh dear. I won't be cutting and pasting any more. Sorry.

(edit) Cool! Now I've discovered you can edit your comments after subitting them. This truly is a wonderful world.

(for those of you wondering what I'm on about, I used Word and discovered that the Website doesn't like Word apostophes.)

4. I believe that there is no God.

Comment #52775 by David James on June 28, 2007 at 4:05 am

I'm really pleased that this issue is being discussed here. I've been a little dismayed for some time, reading the comments of so many of my fellow atheists here, so caught up in making it absolutely clear that they DON'T subscribe to "I believe there is no God" but to "I have no believe that God exists".

What's all the fuss about? I too believe that there is no God. I COULD be wrong but I'm pretty sure there's no God. I don't merely LACK a belief and I don't think this 'goes beyond Atheism' in some way. Surely the only people who MERELY lack belief are those people who have never heard of God and never considered the question.

I BELIEVE there is no God. I also believe there is no tooth fairy and no Celestial Teapot. I have absolutely loads of similar beliefs.

But this is not a "leap of faith". I think it was a mistake to use that phrase in this article. It's either highly misleading or points to a real flaw in Penn Jillette's thinking. We don't need a leap of FAITH to say there is no Tooth Fairy and we don't need it for God either.

And with regard to your point Konquerers,

("this will be clipped all to hell and used to say that its a belief, a religion, just like they said the whole time.")

You may be right:

This may be clipped to hell and used against 'us' but there's nothing wrong with saying "I believe there's no God" and I think it confuses the issue if people who have this belief don't come out and say it. LET the idiots misunderstand. That's what they do. We need to be as lucid and open as possible if we want to have an intelligent discussion. Having a belief is not the same thing as having a religion if you have good reasons to hold the belief.

God doesn't exist.

Peace my friends.

D-J

5. Believing Scripture but Playing by Science's Rules

Comment #22197 by David James on February 13, 2007 at 8:53 am

I think you’re underestimating the level of madness this guy is indulging in here (and the nature of some of the problem with a lot of religious people too).

It’s not that he “disagrees” with the ideas put forward by palaeontology. He seems to have a relativistic notion of truth which allows him to think that, within the “paradigm” of palaeontology, one set of facts are “true” and within the “paradigm” of his religious life a contradictory set of facts is true. Insane I know, but I think this is different to thinking that the findings of science are false – which would of course reflect poorly on his academic record. This just reflects poorly on his sanity.

He seems to have missed the fact that I could say that, within the paradigm of Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing Sherlock Holmes lived in Baker Street and within the paradigm of the REAL WORLD he did not. He seems not to understand or refuses to accept that one of his paradigms is analogous to this real world paradigm. He just blank refuses to acknowledge this issue.

I think this “double think” business is really important in the struggle against religion and I really think it’s important to see it and religion for what it is. I’d like to see more work done by this movement against this aspect of the problem. Any thoughts anyone?

But to summarise : What a nutter.

6. My critics are wrong to call me dogmatic

Comment #21963 by David James on February 12, 2007 at 1:55 am

And who is this "McGarth" guy you keep going on about stpetes?

7. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #20998 by David James on February 7, 2007 at 8:12 am

Hi MohaMad,

I guess that makes about as much sense as any of it yeah.

8. Do stop behaving as if you are God, Professor Dawkins

Comment #20940 by David James on February 7, 2007 at 4:00 am

I find this all horribly depressing. I was preparing some intelligent responses to Professor McGrath's article, but what's the point? This really isn't a cop-out. Any theists out there reading this please don't accuse me of trying to refute your position without presenting an argument. I'm not arguing today. I haven't the strength. And I'm not talking to you anyway. I'm talking to my fellow atheists who don't need me point out the myriad flaws present in what McGrath and his ilk have to offer.

So I guess the gist of my posting here is:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to go and lie down now.

9. Young, British Muslims 'getting more radical'

Comment #19666 by David James on January 29, 2007 at 6:59 am

Thanks so much for that.

Haven't had a good laugh all day.

(Note to self: Don't take it all so seriously)

Thanks MouthAlmighty.

10. Young, British Muslims 'getting more radical'

Comment #19646 by David James on January 29, 2007 at 4:33 am

CodeCrack,

I didn't MERELY insult you personally (although I did DO that) I also tried to raise your awareness about exactly what it is you're condoning: The forcable expulsion from their homes of some very nice, peaceful citizens, men women and CHILDREN, who are our friends and colleagues. I agree they are deluded and it upsets me greatly, but your notion is a vicious and impractical fantasy. I say "Grow up" because anyone with an ounce of maturity can see that what you propose is not going to happen and if it did it would be a mess. Can we seriously imagine a world where, when we go into work tomorrow we are told that 'that nice Kumar in Personelle' won't be coming in tomorrow because he's being shipped off to Pakistan aginst his will. And anyone who think we can solve a problem like this in 3 years is seriously immature.

And while I follow your logic to some degree I am deeply concerned about where it leads. This would effectively turn the Middle East into a ghetto. And a GHETTO WITH GUNS AND BOMBS. What's your Final Solution Codecrack?

11. Young, British Muslims 'getting more radical'

Comment #19634 by David James on January 29, 2007 at 3:13 am

The Code Crack goes WAY too far JimC. This is seriously nasty talk. Pull yourself together Codecrack and don't embarrass us here. I HATE religious belief and especially any aggressive or hateful variety but the type of fantasty you're engaging in here is ridiculous. You are talking about ripping innocent people (deluded yes, but still innocent) out of their homes. I have a Muslim friend. I HATE the fact that she has these ludicrous beliefs but it would not be right or helpful to engage in the kind of fascist activity you're talking about. This is not the way forward you fool. GROW UP.